The present invention relates to a data transmission apparatus for use in a composite-type digital copier that performs various functions such as copying function, facsimile function and printing function.
A conventional data transmission apparatus, such as a facsimile apparatus, can print the results of transmission at the request of the user, enabling the user to confirm the result of transmission. In such a data transmission apparatus, a table of the results of transmitting a prescribed number of data items is printed to be used as a management record of the data items transmitted. The data transmission apparatus automatically prints a management record every time the results of transmitting a prescribed number of data items are accumulated. Reading the transmission management record, the user can confirm the results of transmission. The user can keep the record in his or her file.
The results of transmitting many data items, e.g., 100 data items, are printed altogether on a transmission management record. The table of the results of so many data items, in the form of a table, is too large to be printed on a single sheet of paper. It is usually printed on a plurality of paper sheets, for example three paper sheets.
In most cases, many users uses the same facsimile apparatus. Each of these users needs to print a management record of the results of transmitting data items, in order to confirm what data items he or she has sent by facsimile or to keep the record in his or her file. Of the results printed in the management record, many concern with the data items sent by the other user of the facsimile apparatus. The user need not review such results of transmission. Nonetheless, every time the user wants to confirm what data items he or she has transmitted, he or she cannot help but print a management record of several pages. This is an waste of paper sheets.
The results of transmitting data items, which the user needs to review, are printed among the transmission results about the data items the other users have sent and are, therefore, are hard to find. The user ticks all transmission results concerning the data items he or she has sent, with a felt pen or the like, to make it easy to check the transmission results again. It takes him or her much time to tick the transmission results.
Some types of composite-type digital copiers, each performing copying function, facsimile function, printing function and the like, have a large display section such as a liquid crystal display. The large display section of such a copier can display the transmission results, in the form of a table. Seeing the table displayed, any user can check the transmission results. If the user designates the function of printing on the screen that is displaying the transmission results, a transmission management record will be printed. Reading the record, the user can confirm the results of transmission. Further, the user may keep the record in his or her file.
The number of transmission results the large display section of such a copier can display on its screen is limited, however. The user must perform a screen-related operation until the user finds a particular transmission result on the screen to check the transmission result. If the user needs to find and check many transmission results, the screen-related operation will be complicated.
As described above, when a user prints the transmission results that he or she needs to check, the other transmission results are printed as well. This leads to a waste of paper sheets and makes it difficult to find the transmission results which the user wants to check. The present invention has been made to solve the problem. An object of the invention is to provide a data transmission apparatus which helps to print the results of transmitting a plurality of data items, without a waste of paper sheets, in such a way that the transmission results printed may be found easily.
When a display section displays a plurality of transmission results, the operation the user must perform to find the transmission results he or she wishes check will become complicated. This invention has been made to solve this problem, too. Another object of the invention is to provide a data transmission apparatus which enables the user to find the transmission results he or she wants and which is easy for the user to operate.
A data transmission apparatus according to the present invention is one that is be connected to an external apparatus by a communication line. The apparatus comprises: transmitting means for transmitting data to the external apparatus through the communication line; a memory for storing results of transmission effected by the transmitting means; selecting means for selecting some of the results of transmission stored in the memory; and output means for outputting only the results of transmission which have been selected by the selecting means.
A method of outputting transmission results, according to this invention is designed for use in a data communication apparatus connected to an external apparatus by a communication line and comprising transmitting means for transmitting data to the external apparatus through the communication line and a memory for storing results of transmission effected by the transmitting means. The method comprises: a first step of selecting some of the results of transmission stored in the memory; and a second step of outputting only the results of transmission which have been selected in the first step.